AUSTIN – In a program that frets when losing twice in two seasons, Texas players spent their bye week coping with two losses in two games.

The Longhorns have all but dropped off the college football radar screen both nationally and in the Big 12 after falling to UCLA and Oklahoma.

"We've learned that losing is not a good feeling," receiver James Kirkendoll said Monday.

The Longhorns are trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak since 1999.

"You lose part of yourself when you lose a football game," coach Mack Brown said. "To lose two in two weeks is something we haven't done around here."

Nor do the prospects get any better, not having to face No. 5 Nebraska in Lincoln. Unranked and unfamiliar underdogs by 10 points, Texas will be traveling to a state that views it as an evil empire in burnt orange. Many Nebraska fans don't simply want a victory, they want payback for all sorts of real and imagined offenses and slights before exiting to the Big Ten.

While Brown may be 12-0 in games following the Red River Rivalry and 7-1 against Nebraska, no one is giving much credence to those numbers.